Coca-Cola Takes Content Marketing to a New Level with the Content 2020 Project

The Coca-Cola Company is prioritizing content more than ever in its marketing strategy as part of a new mission to move from “creative excellence to content excellence” through its Content 2020 Project in the U.K. The company defines content as “the creation of stories that are to be expressed through every possible connection.” For the Coca-Cola Company, “each story must have value and significance to people’s lives.”

The Coca-Cola Company views content as an opportunity to “create ideas that are so contagious, they cannot be controlled.” The company calls these ideas “liquid” and explains them as follows:

“[Liquid ideas] are so innately relevant to our business objectives, our brand, and consumer interests, we call this ‘linked’ and through the stories we tell, we will provoke conversations and earn a disproportionate share of popular culture.”

Using a Conversation Model, the Content 2020 Project starts with brand stories that become liquid ideas to which the company reacts. Leveraging technology, the Project is built on what the Coca-Cola Company refers to as a “demand culture where consumers can turn their demands on 24 hours a day.”

You can learn more about the Content 2020 Project in the two-part videos below.

Already, the Coca-Cola Company has launched a variety of content initiatives on Twitter, Facebook, videos, live online events, and blogs as part of the Content 2020 Project. With a goal to increase reliance on listening to consumers and engaging with them to gain deeper insights than traditional market research can provide, the Coca-Cola Company expects that the Project will enable it to create content that can be flexible and evolve with consumers’ demands.

What do you think of the Content 2020 Project? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on the Coca-Cola Company’s new strategic focus on content marketing.

Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.

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